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The Big Red Train Ride
by: Eric Newby

Used Price: £0.01

Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780140052435
ISBN: 0140052437
Label: Penguin Books Ltd
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: March 27, 1980
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Studio: Penguin Books Ltd
Sales Rank: 846883

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- The Big Red Train Ride
As someone who is planning to travel the Trans-Siberian Railway in the not too distant future I read with interest this book that follows Eric Newby's journey taken back in 1977.

Accompanied by his wife, a German photographer and their official guide from the then USSR authorities, it makes for interesting reading to go back into the "good old days" of the Cold War and revisit life behind the Iron Curtain.

There are many facts and figures about the railway and its construction which can become slightly laborious, far more interesting are the passages taken for other writings by other adventurers who travelled the route, either on the train or by sledge, in far earlier times.

Unfortunately Newby's style of writing ... Read More:

Rating:

- Boring account of being bored
It may be that Eric Newby is an acquired taste, but I find his style of writing insufferable- his style is dull, his jokes leaden and for a famous traveller, his natural metier is the Little Englander comparing the USSR with the delights of the West Country.

This account of a 1977 trip on the Trans Siberian is a mix of a history of the railway and Newby complaining about not being allowed to photographs. When he is not repeating this complaint ad nauseum he is moaning about the restrictions imposed by his Soviet companions, complaining about the people he meets, and being rude about his wife.

Whilst I pity the friends and family of Mr Newby who had to sit through his "anecdotes" (of which there are practically none), at least ... Read More:

Books : The Big Red Train Ride